Burrin Burrin heals
At Burrin Burrin Reserve, as the sky began to lose its layers of daytime colour, Renee Hartley added layers of warmth, anticipating the approaching dark.
In the 1970s environmental activist Richard Sylvan came across a bushland property destined to be cleared and decided to buy and protect it.
He called it Burrin Burrin – a little piece of quiet and beauty among the farm land that surrounds it.
Burrin Burrin is mountain country, a place of deep, walled valleys and ferny valley floors.
During daylight hours these valleys echo with the calls of Superb Lyrebirds, while at night they can be filled with the resonant ‘whoo-hoo’ of a Powerful Owl, or ring with the yap of a Sugar Glider in danger.
Image Information
Greater Glider. Photo Rebecca Diete.
Greater Gliders end their flights from tree to tree with such slaps that distinctive echoes reverberate through the forest.
Just like their airborne predator, the Powerful Owl, these gliders are highly dependent on old-growth forest for survival, and spend much of their time foraging for food in the highest parts of the tree canopy.
They also need the deep tree hollow dens only old-growth forests can provide, with a single glider using up to 20 different dens within its home range.
All this is protected thanks to our generous supporters.
What Burrin Burrin Reserve protects
Animals: Greater Glider (endangered nationally), Gang Gang Cockatoo (endangered nationally), Spotted Quail-thrush, Glossy Black-cockatoo (vulnerable nationally), Flame Robin (vulnerable in NSW).
Plants: Cotoneaster pomaderris (Pomaderris cotoneaster), Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa), Golden Tip (Goodia lotifolia), Climbing Apple Berry (Billardiera mutabilis), Native raspberry (Rubus parvifolius), Prickly Currant Bush (Coprosma quadrifida), Soft tree-fern (Dicksonia antarctica), Yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora), Thick-lipped Spider-orchid (Caladenia tessellata).
Vegetation communities: Southern Ribbon Gum forest, Swamp Gum forest, Brown Barrel forest, Silvertop forest, Yellow Box grassy woodland (nationally critically endangered).
Image Information
Burrowing frog. Photo Kyle Barton.
What we’re doing
For a long time Burrin Burrin has been in such good natural condition, little management was needed. We found a pine seedling in there once, the odd thistle, and only one rabbit. It’s never been cleared or farmed so the forest was robust enough to resist invasion by exotic species.
Our monitoring found the reserve to be an important refuge for a number of threatened bird species, including Gang-gang and Glossy Black Cockatoos.
Bushfires
Burrin Burrin was one of our reserves impacted by bushfires in 2019-20. Before this it wouldn’t have seen a fire for 60 years.
Shortly after the fires, rains fell and we saw green sprouts shooting up through burnt soil, Native Cherry trees that managed to evade the fire, Lyrebirds, a Red-necked Wallaby and fresh wombat scat.
The sounds of birds rang through the air. The bush is still singing; wildlife persists, in spite of everything; supported by locals digging in to help the recovery.
Reserve scorecard
See a full ecological scorecard for Burrin Burrin Reserve.
Learn more about how we measure our impact.
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